4. Chapter 4
Grace
“Istill can’t believe you don’t like grilled cheese. Who doesn’t like grilled cheese?” I asked and threw my hands up in continued disbelief while Connor squinted at me for bringing it up again. He stopped walking and turned to me.
“Me. Is it really that hard to believe?” Was he biting back a smile? I could swear there was a twinkle in his eye that wasn’t annoyance. I rocked my head side to side, as if to explain it was obviously impossible to believe.
“I mean, it’s toasted bread and melted cheese. What’s not to love?” When I ordered the grilled cheese, the disgusted look on his face was one I couldn’t forget—or stop laughing at.
Connor rolled his eyes so hard, his whole head followed before he laughed. “Exactly! It’s just bread and cheese. What is there to love?” He shrugged. “I guess I just don’t get it.”
“Maybe you just have bad taste,” I said, giggling when I walked past him toward his car. I heard his chuckle behind me before the few footsteps he took to catch up.
“I’m out to lunch with you.” Connor winked.
“I’d say that means I’ve got pretty great taste.
I may dislike grilled cheese, but I’ll watch you eat one any time.
” Then, he put his arm around me and led me to his car, and the butterflies in my stomach danced around lunch.
I am just not really interested in dating anyone right now.
I could already practically hear Mariah celebrating.
“What are you doing here?” My heart sank when Connor’s muscles stiffened. The playfulness on his face hardened. He kept his arm around my shoulder, turning us both toward the source of the voice. When I came face to face with Mickey Cassidy, his eyes widened. “Well, well, well. Look who it is.”
His brother stepped up next to him, taking a long look at me and lifting both eyebrows. “Did you stumble into the wrong place?” Luca asked, clearly staring right at me. Great.
“It’s a free country. I’m pretty sure we can eat lunch wherever we want,” I said, straightening my back and stepping slightly in front of Connor while confusion carved itself in the tilt of his head. What was he going to think of me after my brothers’ basically sworn enemy threatened us at lunch?
“It’s a free country,” Mickey said coldly, “but that doesn’t mean it’s a safe one.
Not for everyone.” His glare settled in my stomach like concrete, and I hoped Connor couldn’t feel my shoulders trembling.
When he moved his arm from around my shoulders and stepped forward, I felt both relieved and vulnerable at the same time; for a moment, I wished he’d put it back.
“Woah, Mickey. What the hell?” He put his hands up, earning another glare from the oldest Cassidy. “What is your problem?” They know each other? I looked between the men who shared more familiarity than I anticipated, confused. Who was I out to lunch with?
Mickey stepped forward until they were almost chest to chest. “Why would you bring her here?” he asked, nodding back toward the café.
“What is the big deal?” Connor looked at me from the corner of his eye, like he was trying to put the puzzle pieces together.
Luca laughed, slapping his hand against Connor’s shoulder before he proudly cleared his throat.
“She’s a Moretti,” he said, and when Connor turned over his shoulder to look at me, my blood ran cold.
My name didn’t always promise safety. What were my brothers going to say when they found out I was out on an apparent date with a friend of the Cassidys?
“What? She didn’t tell you?” Luca was talking to Connor, but his eyes didn’t leave mine.
“A Moretti?” Connor stepped back, looking at me like he was seeing me through a different filter—one he wasn’t so fond of. He squinted at me.
“Mhm,” Mickey half-hummed and half-hissed as he circled us.
“Gracey here is the baby of the family. Isn’t that right?
What would Giacomo and Ronan think of you being out with one of us today, hmm?
” The grilled cheese I ate soured in my stomach; for a moment, I thought I might throw it up. One of them?
Connor turned toward me and opened his mouth before he closed it again. Then, he scowled at me. “Grace Moretti,” he said, like he’d finally put the pieces together. I swallowed the lump the nerves formed in my throat and nodded.
“Get her out of here,” Mickey said while Luca snickered behind him. “And if you’re smart, you’ll be more careful who you get involved with, Miss Moretti. I would hate for something to happen to you.”
“Is that a threat, Mickey?” I asked, puffing my chest out in a way I knew wouldn’t intimidate them, but that hopefully told them I wasn’t intimidated either.
Mickey smirked, shooting a side glance to Luca and Connor before looking back to me and taking a bold step forward. “Nothing is a threat, princess. I’m just looking out for what’s best for you.” When he hooked his finger under my chin, I glared, and he added, “You never know who someone really is.”
Connor’s eyes narrowed, and when he put his arm around me again, it lacked the warmth and comfort it had come with earlier.
I didn’t slip away from him, though, not until we were far enough from Mickey and Luca that I didn’t think they would be able to see the discomfort in my eyes.
When we got to his car, he reached out and opened the door.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked when I dipped out from his hold.
“How was I supposed to know you’re apparently friends with my brothers’ sworn enemies?” I crossed my arms, popping my hip to the side and not climbing into the car, even though he continued to hold the door open.
Conner cocked his head and pursed his lips while he thought. “Okay, that’s a fair point. But you know now,” he said, stepping closer to me and trapping me between him, the car, and the open door. “Does that change how you see me?”
Did it?
It probably should have. It should have sent me running for the hills, absolutely never telling my brothers this happened.
More than anything, I already knew how they would react.
But when Connor smirked, all I could think about was the firm softness of his lips—and how badly I wanted to kiss them again. I shook my head.
“No, but it should.” I inhaled slowly, breathing in the amber scent of his cologne and the leather interior of his car.
“Should it?” Connor shrugged, stepping closer until his chest met mine. My breath hitched. “Even when I do this?”
When he kissed me, it tasted like danger and poor judgment, and all I wanted was more.
I parted my lips, tracing my tongue along his and humming when he deepened the kiss.
Connor’s fingers worked their way into my hair, and, with each controlling touch, Mickey’s threat melted away.
The more I let Connor kiss me, the more I wanted to take the risk.
His lips broke from mine, and a whimper crawled from my chest. “Maybe this is a bad idea,” I said when my stomach started to swirl.
“I have a lot of bad ideas.” His hands locked around my hair as he inhaled my breath. “It’s never stopped me before.”